72-Hour Kit: Food and Water

As promised, I will start doing a 72-Hour Kit high-light!  Today we will focus on Food and Water in your kit!

Water:

Water is probably the most important part of a 72-Hour Kit.  Though highly uncomfortable and definitely not preferable, most of us can go several days without food.  Water, though, is another thing entirely.  We need water.  It is, therefore, vital that water be a part of 72-Hour Kit.  The recommended amount of water is a gallon of water per person per day; though that isn't really feasible for grab and go.  (That amount is definitely what you'll want for a home-store, though -- for 3 days.)   Here is how our family accomplishes this:

We purchased gallon jugs of apple juice and water, drank the contents, and washed the bottle (when it was apple juice).  We actually choose to filter our water, so all of our jugs are filled with filtered water.  One of the more difficult things is making sure you rotate your water storage.  What I have done is label the top of each jug (we actually have 7 -- the 7th is always on our counter-top in the kitchen).  I use this water for our cooking when whatever we are cooking will absorb the water (like pasta and rice), since we prefer the filtered water.  Then I re-fill the jug with filtered water when it's empty and get the next number.  So our water stays relatively fresh.  We keep these stored next to our 72-Hour kits (except the one in use) and hope that we will be able to at least each grab one gallon in the event of an emergency situation.

...But if not...  Well, that's where THRIVE Life has come in for us!  Those packets you see in front are full of water.  We each have a few of those in our packs.  They are light-weight and easy to fit inside the kit (as opposed to a gallon jug, right...?) and two of them a day will keep you alive, even if it's not the ideal. Also convenient:  these pouches are good for 5 years! 

THRIVE Life also offers water filtration devices.  In fact, I plan to include one of these in our kits soon.  I like the idea of being able to make non-potable water potable :).

Food:

So, while the food isn't as vitally important (generally) as the water, let's not kid ourselves...  We all know that we'd do better in an emergency if we had the nutrients and calories we need each day.  (For infants and young children, food is a much higher priority.  We actually have a whole separate kit for our toddler, and I will post that later.) 

One thing that is important with the food in a 72-Hour Kit is that you make sure it is rotated.  You don't want to find yourself needing your pack and then learn that all the food has spoiled!  We go through our kits twice a year (during General Conference) in April and October and eat all the food and replace it.  This has helped us keep fresh foods in our kit.  And it has also given us the chance to learn what works for us.

Making sure you have foods that store a long time is one area where THRIVE Life fruit pouches would be super helpful!  They have a long shelf-life with no added preservatives.  They are 100% real fruit.  And they are super-light-weight (just over 1 ounce)!  I haven't added any to our kits yet (because it honestly only just occurred to me), but I will be very soon!

Another thing THRIVE Life offers to make life simpler are calorie bars (available in different calorie amounts).  These are also light-weight and have what your body needs.  They are small, and easy to shove into a kit.  And they are also inexpensive.  So if you're more like my husband and you don't care a lot about what you're eating -- but rather how many calories you're getting...  These are a great option!  But my husband married me ;).  And I'm a total foodie.  Maybe I wouldn't care in a situation that deemed necessary the use of my 72-Hour Kit.  However, since I'm planning it now, and packing it now, I decided I wanted at least some variety in my foods during an emergency!  Ergo, our current food contents looks like this:

We have:
1 package beef jerky
1 squeeze tube jelly
1 small container peanut butter
2 packs Ritz crackers
3 trail mix bars
1 can chunk chicken breast
1 can v8

We package as much as we can into a gallon ziploc bag, to keep things together and also to keep things from getting wet in the event our kit falls into the water.

I should also mention that we opted for items we can eat without utensils.  That was a personal preference.

As I mentioned before, my husband and I decided to "build" our own 72-Hour Kits.  But if that isn't how you want to spend your time -- yet you still want to have one, THRIVE Life has a variety of pre-assembled kits which would benefit you in an emergency situation!

As always, feel free to contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com with questions or to place an order.  If any of the emergency essentials you saw in this post appeal to you, remember you always get the Q price (the cheapest price) when ordering through me!  And if you send me your email, I'll keep you up-to-date on specials at THRIVE Life :).

I hope these tips and information can help you begin becoming prepared in whatever way is best for you and yours!  Happy THRIVEing!